Ball bearing



C. A. ADAMS BALL BEARING Oct. 21, 1952 Filed Dec, 14, 1948 20- F IG. 4

INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 21, 1952 j @UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Y 2,614,898 1 I I BALL BEARING Charles :A. Adams, Davenport, "Iowa ApplicationDecember 14,1943, Serlal No. 65,178

I I I 1 "Mypresent invention relates'tobearings and a fnietho dof producing same, and pertains, es-

'-pecially, to a permanent type of ball bearin :tion, easy to assemble, and inexpensive to produce.

In thedrawings annexedhereto and forming a part hereof, I

Fig. l is a fragmentary elevation of a bearing 'constructed inaccordance with my present invention;

Fig. 2 represents a transverse section through v the bearing shown in Fig.1;

Fig. 3 is a partial transverse section I showing theinode of permanently'securing the parts of thisbearing together;

Fig. 4 is a view comparable to Fig. 2 but with the securing ring placed outside of the other ringsrather than inside, as in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 shows the method of permanently fastening together the parts of the bearing shown in Fig. 4.

Reference will now be made in greater detail to the annexed drawings for a more complete description of this invention which comprises a set of balls and three rings, the balls being denoted by the numeral I and the rings by the numerals 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Comparable to the rings 2, 3, and 4 of Figs. 1, 2, and 3, are corresponding rings 2a,.3a, and 4a in the structure of Figs. 4 and 5. In the structure of Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the ringZ is on the outside while, in the structure of Figs. 4 and 5, the ring 2a constitutes the inner ring of the bearing. The ring 2 has a circular channel 5, located in the inner face wall, While the ring 2a has a corresponding channel 5a located in the outer face wall, as shown in Fig. 5. The channels 5 and 5a are semi-hexagonal in cross-section and, therefore, they have three faces against which the balls I may bear during the operation of the bearings.

In the structure of Fig. 3, an inner edge of the ring 3 is provided with a channel 6 which provides two faces of the second half of the circular channel for the reception of the balls I. The third ring 4 has one edge channeled for the reception of the ring 3, and one edge of this channel is chamfered to furnish the sixth face of the circular ball channel, thus completing the channel in which the balls I roll during 12 Glaims (Cl. 308-196) the operation of the bearing. Constructed this way, the bearing is both aradial {bearing and an end thrust hearing, as will bereadily apparent from an examination of Fig. 3 of "the drawings. Although the channel may 'bemade inthe form of anequilateral hexagon, in crosssecn er with longer slopeson the inclined faces of the channels, it is believed that the most efficient form of this construction 'is that 1 in I which the channel is an equilateral hexagon.

In the structure of Fig. '5, the order of the rings-is just 'reversedso that-the securing-ring 4a is around the outside inste'ad of inside of the first ring -As shown at I and 1a, the rings 3 and Marc chamferedfaround one edge toi'produce a recess into whichthe thin edge. portion SI or 8a may be bent by bendingwthe edge 9 or to into the space I or Tawherebyto hold the three rings'together, with the balls I in the cirinto the opening through the ring 4 with the result that the thin edge 9 of ring 4 will be forced into theonly vacant space available, that is, the space I, and thus secure the two rings 3 and 4 together. These will be held in place with relation to the ring 2 by the presence of the balls I in the ring channel.

In the case of the structure shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the element Illa surrounds the ring 4a, and its flange Ha will cause the thin edge 9a to turn into the space Ia, comparably to what takes place in connection with the structure of Figs. 2 and 3. If it is felt desirable, a ball-spacing ring may occupy the space between the rings to keep the balls in position relatively to each other. This may be necessary in some instances but not in all.

The parts of the three rings contacting the balls I are hardened, or case-hardened, to withstand Wear, and the thin part 8 or Ba of ring 4 or 4a is softened enough so that it can be bent .into the chamfer I or Ia whereby to prevent separation of the rings 3 and 4 or 3a and 4a,.

It is of course obvious that departures may be made from the disclosure herein without departing from the spirit of this invention or the subject matter as dis-closed by the appended claims.

Having now described my invention, I claim:

1. A bearing comprising a bearing ring provided with a channel of semi-hexagonal crosssection having a central cylindrical ball-receiving surface and two an'gularly related conoidal sur faces, a bearing ring cooperating with the first ring and having a channel in one edge shaped to provide a ball-receiving conoidal surface diametrically opposite one of said two conoidal surfaces and contiguous to the other, said second bearing ring also having an elongated cylindrical surface lying in radially spaced relation with respect to said ball-receiving conoidal surface, the elongated cylindrical surface of said second bearing ring lying substantially directly opposite the central cylindrical surface of the first mentioned bearing ring, said cylindrical surfaces being substantially concentric and spaced apart a distance greater than the distance between said diametrically opposite conoidal surfaces, a third ring cooperating with the first and second rings in forming a ball raceway having a hexagonal cross-section, and balls in said raceway serving as friction-reducin means for the rings, said third ring having a conoidal surface lying, when the hearing is assembled, diametrically opposite said other conoidal surface of said first mentioned bearing ring, and an axially inward portion having a cylindrical ball-receiving surface and, spaced radially therefrom, an elongated cylindrical surface adapted to telescope within and overlap the elongated cylindrical surface of said second bearing ring, the cylindrical ball-receiving surface of said third ringbeing spaced radially from the cylindrical ball-receiving surface or" said first mentioned bearin ring a distance equal to the diameter of one of said balls.

2. In an anti-friction bearing construction, an inner race means, an outer race means, one of said race means having an annular recessed section formin substantially one-half of the total raceway of the bearing, said recessed section having a substantially cylindrical section and two raceway end sections at opposite sides of the cylindrical section, the other race means comprising two telescopically associated ring members, one carried by the other, said telescopically associated ring members overlapping for an appreciable distance centrally of the bearing, said one ring member having a recessed portion shaped to provide a raceway end section, concentric with one of the first mentioned raceway end sections, and a cylindrical section concentric with said first mentioned cylindrical section, the other ring member having a raceway end section concentric with the other of said first mentioned raceway end sections and a cylindrical section having a diameter to telescopically receive said one ring memher so that the cylindrical section of said one ring member and the cylindrical section of said other ring member overlap, means acting against said telescopically associated ring members for holding them in associated relation, and antifriction bearing elements confined radially between one of said overlappin cylindrical sections and the cylindrical section of said one race means, whereby radial loads do not stress said holding means or tend to separate said telescopically associated ring members.

CHARLES A. ADAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,093,348 Mooers Apr. 14, 1914 .FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 6,059 France Aug. 29, 1906 669,436 France Nov. 15, 1929 722,489 Germany a- July 10, 1942 

